“Cold blood” murder of teenager at a traffic stop sparks outrage
Angry protests have expanded across France since Tuesday
Rallies turn violent after clashes with security forces
Macron postpones Brussels trip to chair second emergency meeting on Friday
40,000 officers deployed nationwide to confront protesters
UN calls on France to address police violence
Major French cities have been gripped by angry protests and riots after the fatal shooting of a teenage boy of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a routine traffic stop.
In a sign of the surging unrest, 40,000 police officers had been deployed across France on Friday night in comparison with the 4,000 that were mobilized only two days earlier.
On Tuesday, in the western town of Paris, French police opened fire at a teenage boy during a traffic stop, fatally shooting him in the chest. The victim has only been identified as Nahel M and died at the scene.
Police initially reported that one officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him. But that narrative was quickly contradicted by footage that went viral on social media and authenticated by French news agencies.
A lawyer for the boy’s family says, “You have a video that is very clear: a police officer killed a young man of 17 years. You can see that the shooting is not within the rules.”
The lawyer added, “The images clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood.”
The murder triggered angry protests at police discrimination against ethnic groups. The protesters that began in Nanterre quickly spread nationwide and escalated to heavy clashes with police for three consecutive nights now.
Security forces in riot gear have used violence to crackdown on the protests, including the use of tear gas, batons and firing flash-balls. They were met with a barrage of projectiles. Paris is bracing for more violence.
In north-eastern Paris, security forces fired flash-balls at protesters who were burning rubbish. The crowd responded by throwing bottles.
National police said on Thursday night that officers faced new incidents in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille, including fires and fireworks.
In Marseille, France's second city, police fired tear gas grenades during clashes with youths, the city's main paper La Provence reported.
Macron had already convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday. On Friday, the French president canceled a planned trip to Brussels and chaired a second emergency meeting to address the growing violence.
Unrest has also been reported in other areas across France, including in the northern cities of Lille and Amiens, along with Dijon in the east and Toulouse in the south.
According to France’s interior ministry, police have arrested 667 people in the latest overnight rallies. The ministry added that the unrest has also left 249 police officers wounded, none of whom have sustained serious injuries. At least 150 people had been arrested following the second night of protests.
Authorities have little hope that their appeals for calm will lead to any form of de-escalation. They have opted for curfews, air surveillance, and halting transport in the capital after 9 pm local time as part of efforts to restore calm. Reports say police stations elsewhere have also been targeted.
But the measures and heightened security have done little to deter unrest on Thursday night.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says "all options" are being reviewed. The government has so far ruled out declaring an emergency.
The murder has fueled long-standing complaints from rights groups of police violence and systemic racism among police agencies against racially mixed suburbs that surround the major cities of France.
According to rights groups, police brutality against Africans and other minority groups is rampant in France, which has a long history of its security forces using deadly force and violence against non-white residents. That, in turn, has led to a huge gap of mistrust between minority groups and French leaders.
With the emergence of mobile phone cameras and social media, it has become easier for the public to establish real facts.
So far in 2023, Tuesday’s killing was the third fatal shooting during a traffic stops in France. There were a record 13 similar murders by police last year.
Speaking to France 5 channel in her first media appearance since Tuesday’s murder, Nahel’s mother said, "[the police] didn't need to kill my son. A bullet? So close to his chest? No, no," the single mother told the channel in tears.
The officer "saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life," she said.
"How long is this going to go on for? How many other children are going to go like this? How many mothers will find themselves like me?" she added.
“We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel,” two young men calling themselves “avengers” told the Guardian. One said his family had lived in France for three generations, but “they are never going to accept us”.
The United Nations has called on France to address deep issues of racial discrimination in its police and address the use of force by its security forces.
"We are concerned by the killing of a 17-year-old of North African descent by police in France on Tuesday," UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing in Geneva.
"This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement. We also emphasize the importance of peaceful assembly. We call on the authorities to ensure the use of force by police to address violent elements in demonstrations always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability.
"Any allegations of disproportionate use of force must be swiftly investigated."
In December, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination voiced its own deep concerns about the frequent use in France of identity checks, discriminatory stops, and criminal fixed fines that the committee said disproportionately targeted members of certain minority groups.
French celebrities, including footballers, have voiced their anger at what some have branded an “execution”.
Prominent football star and French national team captain Kylian Mbappe wrote on social media “I hurt for my France. Unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Nael, this little angel gone much too soon.”
Mike Maignan, another French international player, also posted on social media about the sense of injustice he felt. “A bullet in the head...It's always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death.”
Maignan's France teammate Jules Koundé criticized the media coverage.
“As if this latest police blunder wasn't enough, the 24-hour news channels are taking advantage of it by making a big fuss,” he wrote.
“The 'journalists' ask 'questions' with the sole aim of distorting the truth, criminalizing the victim and finding extenuating circumstances where none exist. An age-old method for masking the real problem.”
“Why don't we turn off the TV and find out what's going on?' he added.
Analysts believe that nobody in France will be taking this lightly. Almost 20 years ago, Paris was rocked by three months of unrest along with a state of emergency over a similar deadly incident. The government remembers those events very well, and they are in fear of repetition.
By Ali Karbalaei
First published in Tehran
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